The present invention relates generally to vehicles such as strollers and more particularly to a device that can automatically rock a stroller with a baby in it.
Today""s strollers are very sophisticated. They have brakes, they are collapsible, they have means for storing objects either at the rear of the stroller or at the front of the strollerxe2x80x94yet they are not provided with a means for automatically rocking a baby to sleep. Presently, the parents have to use their time and energy and attention to actively rock the stroller.
The need for putting the occupant of a strollerxe2x80x94a baby or a toddlerxe2x80x94to sleep is well known. According to the latest research done at McGill University, rocking the baby in a stroller has the same calming effect as using a pacifier. Typically, the rocking is accomplished by a parent who grasps the stroller handles with one or two hands and pushes the stroller back and forth until the child falls asleep. This activity occupies one or more hands of the parent. As one example, in a restaurant, it is plainly inconvenient to have to make use of one or more hands with which to rock the stroller. Other examples aboundxe2x80x94such as where the parent stays home and needs to do work while caring for the baby and does not have either hands free.
Yet despite the existence of other activities the need to lull the child to sleep is very often required. In simple terms, eating (or working) and minding a child are fundamentally incompatiblexe2x80x94yet parents are routinely in a situation requiring them to do so. Similarly, minding a first child while trying to a second child to sleep is also often incompatible. Accordingly, there is a great demand and need for some practical and safe means for automatically rocking a child to sleep in a stroller without the use of the parent""s hands.
In addition, there is evidence and concern among pediatricians that pacifiers have drawbacks as a means of calming a child. In particular, there is concern that pacifiers, if overused, can cause dependence and could interfere with the proper development of teeth formation. Accordingly, this provides an additional reason why there is a need for a safe and practical device for automatically rocking a child to sleep in a stroller.
It is well known in the art to have a device that automatically rocks a carriage after winding up a spring or motor. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 247,162 to Burton discloses a child""s carriage that rocks after a clock mechanism is wound up. U.S. Pat. No. 1,553,889 to Boettcher discloses a carriage that rocks after a motor is actuated. Neither of these disclose a device applicable to strollers nor do they disclose a device that operates merely after the silent unnoticed forward movement of the stroller. It should be noted, moreover, that while it is commonplace for parents to spend literally hundreds of dollars to buy a baby stroller, no stroller on the market is known to automatically rock the stroller.
There is a need for a stroller that can automatically rock the occupantxe2x80x94i.e. the baby or child. Furthermore, there is a particular need for such a device for automatically rocking a stroller by accruing the energy to do the rocking silently and with no effort by the parent other than from the routine and natural pushing of the stroller.
The need for rocking children to sleep is universal but this invention has broader applicability still. There are individuals who need to be calmed not because they are children but because they have a problem. Two examples are presentedxe2x80x94autistic children and infirm old people can be rocked in wheelchairs or other vehicles. In each case rocking has been found to calm them. Since health care workers have many responsibilities, it would be very advantageous for companions or health care professionals to be able to trigger an automatically rocking mechanism that acquires its energy merely from the forward movement of the vehicle.
A device is presented for automatically rocking strollers and other vehicles. Various embodiments are described for automatically rocking strollers that have four stroller wheels (although the device can also operate with vehicles that possess any number of wheels), a frame member and at least one wheel axle extension associated with at least one stroller wheel. The device includes winding structure for accruing stored rotary energy. The winding structure includes a connecting rod, whose first end is eccentrically mounted to the spring structure and whose second end is equally eccentrically mounted to the wheel axle extension so that the simple forward movement of the stroller winds the spring structure unbeknownst to the parent pushing the stroller. In one embodiment the rocking structure includes a rod whose far end is mounted eccentrically to the wheel axle extension and whose forward end is less eccentrically mounted to the spring structure to ensure that the rod assumes a reciprocating motion during the unwinding of the spring structure. The user switches from winding mode to rocking mode. In an alternative embodiment a first rod attached to the shaft includes a lever that assumes different positions, the different lever positions changing the degree to which a second rod is eccentrically mounted to the spring structure and determining whether the device is in winding or rocking mode.
The following important objects and advantages of the present invention are:
(1) to provide a device that allows a stroller to automatically rock-a child to sleep,
(2) to provide a device that can automatically rock the stroller by using stored energy that is acquired from the normal forward movement of the stroller without the person pushing the stroller even being aware of it;
(3) to provide a device of simple construction that can allow a user to automatically rock the stroller by moving one switch;
(4) to provide a device that is attachable to existing strollers and that can be manufactured as part of the stroller;
(5) to provide a device that can be used to for automatically rock both collapsible and non-collapsible strollers of all kinds.
(6) to provide a device that be used not only to rock strollers but other wheeled vehicles such as wheelchairs; and
(7) to provide a device for rocking strollers automatically that is safe for the occupant of the stroller in that the stroller will not move dangerously away from the user while it is rocking.